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RUN OFFENSE: B-

There’s Waiting For Godot, and there’s Waiting For Trent. At what point do we just look at Trent Richardson, who had 37 yards and a potentially devastating fumble, and conclude that maybe the Browns knew what they were doing when they let him go for a first-round pick? Right now, the Colts best runner is Donald Brown, although he didn’t put up many numbers either against the Broncos. Indy finished with 121 yards rushing, 30 of them coming on Darrius Heyward-Bey’s end-around. As much as the Colts want to establish a run-pass balance, the emerging fact is the pass is going to have to open up the run. Unleash Andrew Luck. Unleash the beast.

RUN DEFENSE: A

This was the Colts’ challenge: Stop the run with the front six or seven while employing at least one or two additional cornerbacks in coverage. The Colts were often out-numbered in the run game, courtesy of playing in the nickel and dime, but the front six/seven played a remarkable game. The Broncos ran 20 times for 64 yards, a 3.2 average. The run defense also forced a massive Ronnie Hillman fumble down by the goal line as the Broncos were ready to go in and cut the score to 39-37. Ricky Jean Francois has been a terrific pickup, by the way. And I like saying his name.

PASS OFFENSE: B

Andrew Luck played a brilliantly efficient game, and once again showed his athleticism with an 11-yard touchdown run. He was under the gun most of the night, and made the right reads, the right throws. The only regrettable one was the pass to Reggie Wayne, the one where he was wide open, the ball was underthrown and Wayne injured his knee. My guess is he’s beating himself up over that one. He finished with a 99.5 quarterback rating, which is a winning number virtually any week. A strong game from Coby Fleener (five catches and a touchdown), who’s going to have to emerge even more now that Wayne is gone for the season. Here’s hoping Wayne comes back healthy; Wes Welker and countless others have had the ACL injury and returned to play well, but age is an issue.

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PASS DEFENSE: A-

This grade is going to seem crazy coming after a night when Peyton Manning threw for 386 yards and the Broncos scored 33 points. But the Colts weren’t playing against just another quarterback or just another offense. The Colts cornerbacks, who fell by the wayside one after another because of injuries, played brilliantly, re-routing receivers, upsetting timing, generally remaining glued to Broncos receivers. The secondary also had plenty of help from a pass rush that sacked Manning four times and made him uncomfortable all night. It didn’t escape notice that after Robert Mathis’ strip sack resulted in a safety, Manning’s passes begin wobbling and falling short with odd regularity. Mathis, and this is a recording, is having a Defensive Player of the Year season and is on pace to set the all-time single-season sack record.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A-

Gee, you think Pat McAfee might have something to talk about during his show Tuesday night at 7 on indystar.com and live at Kilroy’s in Broad Ripple (gratuitous plug). Forget the fact he punted six balls inside the 20-yard line and helped the Colts win the field position game. He’s going to want to talk about how he ran down world-class sprinter Trindon Holliday and then de-cleated him along the sidelines. #boomhit It may cost him money, but he just became a hero to punters and kickers everywhere. Huge play, too, by Stanley Havili, stripping Holliday near the sideline. It should also be mentioned that 62-year-old Adam Vinatieri is having a fantastic season, blasting a couple more long field goals once again.

COACHING: A

Coaches will use anything to motivate their team: During the week, Chuck Pagano shared my column where I wrote that Manning was so enraged by the Jim Irsay comments, he’d love to put 60, 70, 80 points on the Colts. He wanted his guys to know, “Peyton will not come in here and put on a show at our expense.’’ It’s still a relatively small sample size, but since Pagano came along, the Colts have not lost back-to-back games. Give great credit to Greg Manusky, the defensive coordinator, for coming up with a plan to frustrate Manning and his offense. It looked a lot like what the Patriots used to do to Manning back when they were winning championships.

INTANGIBLES: B

Look, I’m glad Jim Irsay got a game ball for all the garbage he took this week, and I’m glad his team had his back. But we can live without the 3:30 a.m. tweets lashing out at everybody, mostly the media. As a smart old hockey coach of mine once told us, “Win with quiet dignity and humility.’’ Had to get that off my chest. Otherwise, it should be mentioned that while the 12th Man might have arrived conflicted, they morphed quickly back into Colts fans and made a lot of noise when Manning had the ball. Anybody get the feeling the Colts and Broncos will see one another again in the playoffs?

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